


i love you so hard (and i still can't sleep)

by zpyral



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Inspired by Music, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Self-Doubt, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28450509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zpyral/pseuds/zpyral
Summary: Dream can do anything. Except stop thinking about George.Title is from "A Pearl" by Mitski
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound
Comments: 10
Kudos: 123





	1. one

It’s weird how things can change overnight. After four years of knowing someone, one late night phone call, full of sleep-deprived giggles and inside jokes can transform a lifelong friendship into something more. 

It was post-stream, on a late night in October, with Dream’s window open just enough to capture the cool autumn winds and crickets’ chirping. The musty smell of rain filled the room and the warm, humid Florida weather seeped into every corner of Dream’s mind, making him feel soft and nostalgic. 

“ _ Dream,”  _ George whispered into his microphone. The sound came through Dream’s headphones quiet and close. It felt intimate, even without George physically there at all. His stomach bloomed flowers at the sound of his voice.

Dream could imagine what it would be like to have George here with him. Warm, comforting. Dream clenched his fist, running his thumb along the soft skin of his fingers. He pretended it was George’s hand instead, as if George’s ghost fingers were gripping his. He shivered. 

“Yeah?” Dream said, his voice as soft and liquid as syrup. Even to Dream’s own ears, he sounded whipped. 

“ _ Dream, _ ” George said again, and Dream quickly picked up on the sleep-deprived voice that George carried. The words were trailed by faint giggles, and Dream suppressed a fond smile. The call had gone on far too long by now, but neither of them were willing to leave just yet. 

Maybe at some point in the night, the lines blurred between what was friendly and what was romantic. Their groggy minds began to find every joke funnier than it was, and every laugh grew more fond. If they had been able to see each other’s faces, they would’ve seen dull, pink cheeks and heavy eyelids. 

Their other friends were long gone, off to eat a late dinner or go to bed or talk to other people. Dream and George were the only ones who remained, perfectly content with each other and nobody else. It was far past both of their bedtimes, but they had always been ones to cross the lines. 

“ _ George,”  _ Dream said now, mocking George’s own soft tone of voice. George only replied with a string of laughter, light and airy. Dream had never wanted to see George’s face so bad in his life. 

Dream felt dizzy with emotion. It was like everytime George laughed, a cold breeze ran through his ribcage, right through his heart. Everything was so different, Dream wasn’t used to feeling this way around George. In the back of his groggy mind, he hoped he hoped he would feel like this again. 

Eventually, all the laughter faded into the distance, and exhaustion finally overtook Dream. He muttered a small ‘ _ goodnight’ _ into his microphone before disconnecting and collapsing into bed. He didn’t even remember to close the window before falling asleep. 

In the morning, the open window would lead to him waking up far earlier than he wanted. The sound of birds singing and cars driving past led to a dull headache and the faint tinge of annoyance on his skin. 

He thought back to the call, and his stomach sunk. It was one of those, “ _ don’t cry because it ended, smile because it happened,”  _ moments. No matter how many times Dream repeated the mantra in his head, he still felt bitter. 

Calls like that were once in a blue moon. It was rare to even get a moment alone with George nowadays, with their busy and  _ very  _ public lives. Dream regretted ever going to sleep at all, he would’ve -  _ should’ve -  _ sat there all night on call. Maybe George would have sat with him, too. Maybe George would’ve fallen asleep eventually, and Dream would get to hear the soft sounds of him sleeping. 

So many regrets for so early in the morning. Dream’s headache only worsened. 

George woke up several hours later. The only reason Dream knew was the green dot next to his discord name. It had turned from grey to green under Dream’s gaze. Not that he was waiting for George to come online. 

Dream didn’t call George when he came online. He didn’t know why, his skin practically itched to press the buttons to make it happen. His skin had itched to hear George’s voice since he left the call the night previously.

He didn’t stop thinking about George all day. 

Dream brushed his teeth.  _ I wonder if George has started editing his video yet. _

He made himself a sandwich for lunch.  _ Does George like grilled cheese? I bet he would like the grilled cheese I make. _

Dream didn’t know why he didn’t just call. Maybe it would’ve freed the thoughts that kept floating around his brain. Despite everything, he still didn’t call George. 

Part of Dream knew that if he called George, it wouldn’t be the same. George’s voice wouldn’t have that fond, sleepy tint to it. George wouldn’t laugh goofily at every one of Dream’s lame jokes. 

Dream wouldn’t be able to pretend that him and George were more than friends. 

That was the thought that skyrocketed him. He choked on the bite of grilled cheese he had unfortunately been chewing on, coughing it down painfully. When Dream had successfully dislodged the sandwich from his throat, all he could do was sit there. 

It was necessarily a  _ surprising _ thought, that he loved George. He’d said it a million times by now, but now it felt like he really meant it. There wasn’t an audience here, George wasn’t here to laugh at his obnoxious jokes, there wasn’t a chat here, constantly spamming and egging him on. There was no joke. Dream just loved George, plain and simple. 

The fact was simple and understandable, the realization was not. Dream’s stomach lurched uncomfortably, and he shot up from his seat, suddenly feeling the need to walk around. 

The worst part was, Dream knew George, and Dream knew that George absolutely did not love him back. They had sat in calls for hours, laughing at their fans shipping them and spent entire streams flirting with each other. George couldn’t have done all that if what Dream felt was mutual.

That phone call had changed everything. Dream had loosened up, allowed himself to actually feel the emotions he had been hiding from throughout his and George’s friendship. And now that they were exposed, Dream didn’t know how to push them back down. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! thanks for reading!!
> 
> pls leave kudos and comments! i love reading them and interacting with you guys
> 
> if you're bored - check out my other fics! i only write DNF at the moment :)
> 
> next update should be out soon, love u!!!!!!


	2. two

It was nearly a week later, and Dream was still waking up every morning thinking about George; He sighed, burying his face in his hands and pressing hard into his eyes. It was like an addiction, he fell asleep thinking about George and woke up remembering him. He felt sick when he wasn’t with him and he felt sick when he was. 

“This is too much,” Dream muttered, to no one but himself. 

Since then, Dream had somewhat refrained from making contact with George. It wasn’t unlike him to go MIA on the internet for a couple of days, so he used the time to sort out whatever  _ feelings  _ he had. It didn’t feel safe to talk to George when he still had non-platonic thoughts rattling around his brain every second of the day. 

Dream was cleaning his kitchen, even though he hadn’t cooked in several days and it wasn’t dirty at all. It was simply a distraction. He was stalling. He knew that it was incredibly likely that George and Sapnap would be unavoidable if he logged onto his computer. And Dream didn’t know how much longer he could go without speaking to them, he felt like he might burst. 

“This is  _ too much, _ ” Dream said again, this time his voice sounded more whiny. He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. He felt exhausted. He hadn’t been sleeping well the past few days. At first, he blamed it on stress. It was clearly more about his unavoidable obsession with thinking about George. 

A part of Dream felt guilty and creepy for thinking about George so much. He obsessed over every memory, every interaction that came to mind. Most of all, Dream just wanted to know how he had managed to ignore these feelings for so long. It was like he had lived a lifetime in the dark, and now suddenly all of the lights had magically turned on. Dream wanted the lights to die down again; he wanted to be ignorant again. 

“ _ George. Just tell me that you love me.” Dream whined, trying to exaggerate his voice as much as he could. _

_ “No, it’s- It’s okay. I don’t have to do that.” George replied.  _ Dream remembered George’s voice sounding distracted and uncomfortable. Nonetheless, Dream had kept going with the bit.  _ Why had he kept going?  _ Why couldn’t he have just respected George’s boundaries?

Dream buried his face into his pillow and breathed deeply. Maybe if he hadn’t pushed so hard, he wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. 

Dream wanted nothing more for everything to go back to normal. He missed his friends more than anything, regardless of his anxieties about George in particular. Slowly, Dream took his head off of his pillow and walked over to his computer. 

A deep breath in, and he logged into Teamspeak. Surprisingly, the world didn’t crash and burn immediately after his symbol changed from ‘offline’ to ‘online.’ What did happen, however, was a call from George, only a couple of minutes later. 

Dream accepted, and a chorus of his name rang out. A very disharmonious, loud, and noisy chorus, that is. 

“ _ Dream! _ ” Sapnap and George screamed, Dream winced and turned down his volume. 

“Oh my  _ god _ ,” Dream grumbled, even though he couldn’t help the smile on his face. “Hi.”

“Hello, Dream.” George said, matter of factly. Sapnap mocked his accent in the background.

“What’re you guys up to?”

“Well, we were going to play bedwars but then George whined and complained that he didn’t want to, and then he insisted we call you, so we did. And then you  _ actually _ picked up, so now George will want to play bedwars ‘cause you’re here.” Sapnap rattled off. 

“I never said that.” George replied, and Dream could sense his lying voice. 

“I’ll play bedwars.” Dream responded, and there was a lapse in conversation where both Sapnap and Dream awaited George’s answer. 

“Alright then.” he responded simply. 

Sapnap groaned, “You suck, George.”

\-----

“Green’s coming!  _ Yellow?  _ Dream, get the bed.” George shouted.

“ _ Oooohh, _ ” Sapnap teased, as if they were still in middle school. 

“Shut up, Sapnap.” Dream hissed, knocking two Green players off their island. Unfortunately, a third had sneaked up and destroyed their bed, the giant, red letters causing Dream, George, and Sapnap to groan in disappointment. 

How does one politely tell their best friend of many, many years they have to stop making jokes about them being in painfully unrequited love with their  _ other  _ best friend because in your reality, it’s no longer a joke? Dream had no idea. 

“ _ Dream, get in the bed.”  _ Sapnap said in a horrible British accent, and it threw Dream off just enough to miss his critical attack, and he died to the final member of the green team. 

“Oh my  _ god.”  _ Dream cried, flinging himself back in his chair. As soon as he was done feeling bad for himself, he selected the compass tool and started following Sapnap around. Sapnap lasted approximately 30 seconds, killing both the green team member and one of the remaining red team members. He died to the fourth and final red player, leaving only them and George. 

“George, you got this.” Sapnap said obnoxiously loud, clapping him on. Dream watched intently, silently rooting him on. This match had lasted far too long, and Dream honestly wanted it to be over with so he could stop thinking about it.

George fell off the bridge of red wool less than a minute later, losing them the match. 

“George, what the hell. You could’ve easily won that, that’s so dumb. Why’d you want to even play bedwars if you’re not even going to  _ try? _ ” Dream bit out, slumping back in his chair. The annoyance had accumulated over the past several days, especially over the last half an hour, and now it was all spilling out. Dream knew it was mean, but his head and heart hurt too bad to think about how shitty he felt emotionally.

Neither George nor Sapnap said anything in response, leaving Dream to sink further in his chair in shame. 

George laughed stiffly, “I think my mum’s calling me downstairs. Be right back.” followed by the  _ User disconnected from your channel  _ alert. 

“Dream.” Sapnap said, as soon as George was gone.

“Sapnap.” Dream replied, his stomach already filling with dread at the conversation that was about to follow.

“What’s going on, dude? We haven’t seen you in days, and the second you get on here you freak out on George? Did you guys fight or something?”

“ _ No,”  _ Dream sighed, “We didn’t fight, I’m just. I feel weird, I guess.”

“About what?”

“I think,” Dream paused. Was he really doing this? Dream had barely admitted to himself that he liked George, could he really have this conversation with Sapnap right now? Dream loved Sapnap and trusted him with his life, but somehow spilling his guts about George felt like a much more daunting task than he had realized. 

Dream could feel his mind spiralling, as it often did when he started dealing with an unreasonable amount of anxiety. He put his palms on his face in an attempt to cool his burning face. 

“I think I like George.” Dream blurted out, his stomach immediately lurching in regret. 

“What?” Sapnap sputtered, “You’re trolling.”

Dream should’ve taken the opportunity to laugh it off as a joke, but his voice was stuck in his throat for too long, and the moment passed. 

“Like,  _ actually?  _ That’s, I mean.” Sapnap sighed, “That sucks. For you. Obviously, I don’t care. But,  _ George?  _ He’s gross.”

“ _ Sapnap.”  _ Dream groaned into his hands. He could appreciate Sapnap’s attempt at humor another day when he didn’t feel like throwing up on his monitor. 

“Sorry. It doesn’t suck, you guys are great together.”

“What? Sapnap, that’s not the issue. George doesn’t like me back, and now I’m stuck  _ thinking  _ about him all the time. It’s just annoying, I guess. That’s why I snapped earlier.”

Sapnap paused for far too long, and Dream could feel his anxiety start to pick up again, “George, uh. I mean, have you tried telling him how you feel?”

Dream could’ve banged his head into his desk, “Are you even listening? He  _ doesn’t like me back. _ ”

_ “User joined your channel.” _

Dream choked on his words, coughing trying to clear his throat. 

“Uh. Hello?” George said, clearly with food in his mouth. “What’re you guys up to?”

Sapnap stayed silent, and Dream made a mental note to tell him how useless he was later. 

“What? Were you guys talking about me?” George joked, and Dream nearly started choking again. 

“No, no. Just Youtube. Stuff. You know.” Dream stammered, keeping his tone as even as possible. 

George hummed, “Okay, whatever. You guys want to play again?”

This time, Sapnap avoided making any jokes about Dream and George, which Dream appreciated. But, Dream knew this wasn’t avoidable forever. Eventually there would be streams, videos, and the fans would wonder why Dream and George didn’t joke around like they used to. 

Dream swallowed thickly. He was going to have to get over this, all by himself. Make it so Dream’s weird crush would be nothing but a funny memory. Then, George laughed, lively and dizzying, and Dream could only sigh. 

This was going to be harder than he thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading :) 
> 
> i just wanted to add that dream, george, and sapnap might tease each other in this fic, but i only ever base it off of their real life banter and it's all jokes! 
> 
> be sure to leave kudos + comments if you enjoyed, i love reading them and interacting with you guys. if you want something to read in between updates, check out my other fics!!


	3. three

The next morning, Dream wakes up to a notification on his phone:

  


_ Sapnap went live! _

  


He sat up in bed, and clicked on the notification, groaning as a 30-second Chipotle commercial appeared instead of Sapnap’s stream. Eventually, the music from the ad faded out, to be replaced by the obnoxious laughter of Sapnap and George. Almost immediately, Dream got out of bed and headed in the direction of his computer. If Dream was going to get over his crush on George, it was best to just return to normal. Even if that meant interacting with George in front of thousands of viewers. 

  


Dream logged onto the SMP, and clicked through the Discord server, trying to find the VC that his friends were nestled in. As soon as he found it, Dream barely remembered to close the Twitch app on his phone before he entered. 

  


“Hi.” 

  


“Is that  _ Dream? _ ” George asked incredulously, “And he’s up at a reasonable time of day?”

  


“You’re one to talk, George.” Sapnap answered, before launching into a story about how George had slept through the scheduled recording  _ of his own video.  _ Dream listened intently, only providing minimal commentary and occasional laughs. Instead, he busied himself with sorting his chests and whatever other mundane tasks he could find do. 

  


Eventually, Dream settled on fishing outside of the community house. It made him look busy enough to where other people on the SMP wouldn’t bother him, but not distracting enough that he couldn’t listen to George and Sapnap talk. Time passed like that, with Sapnap and George taking turns telling stories from when they were kids. Most, Dream had already heard at some point, enough times to where he could probably tell some of the stories better than they could. 

  


Eventually, Dream’s mind zoned out, focusing intently on the fishing bobber instead of the topics at hand.

“Can you please ask Dream what his favorite food is please and thank you” Sapnap says, putting on his donation-reading voice.

  


“Well? Dream?” George asks, pulling Dream out of his trance. 

  


“Uh,” Dream says, eloquent as ever.  _ What the hell did the donation even ask me? _

  


“He’s not answering ‘cause George is his favorite food.” Sapnap says, entirely unprompted.

  


“Favorite food?” Dream says, trying to ignore Sapnap’s comment, “I don’t know? Probably, uh, water?” 

  


“ _ Water? _ ” George asks incredulously.

  


At the same time Sapnap lets out a high-pitched laugh, “There are so many things wrong with what you just said.”

  


Dream shrugs, forgetting momentarily that his friends can't actually see him. 

  


After that, Dream went back to fishing, even though he repeatedly missed fish. His mind was elsewhere, lost somewhere among the stories George was telling. He heard his name said a couple of times, but Sapnap always changed the subject as quickly as possible. 

  


Dream finally zoned back in just as the stream was ending, with an aggressive series of  _ ‘bye’s’ _ from Sapnap and George. He barely managed to say goodbye to chat before the stream ended.

  


“What? I didn’t know Dream was here still.”

  


“I’ve been here the entire time.” Dream answered, still adamantly watching his fishing rod. 

  


“Yeah, but you haven’t spoken in like, an hour.” George filled in, “We thought you left. I’m surprised you didn’t hear us trying to talk to you.”

  


“Oh.” was all Dream could respond.

  


“Whatever,” Sapnap stretched, “I’m going to Taco Bell. Are you guys still going to be on?’

  


“Probably,” Dream shrugged. He did like the company, it was better to be listening to his friends talk than to be scrolling through Twitter trying to avoid ‘Dreamnotfound’ tweets at all cost.

  


“Maybe.” George answered, in a way both of them knew meant yes. 

  


“Nice. See you guys in a couple.” Sapnap left the call with a beep, and suddenly it was silent. 

  


George yawned, “Hello, Dream.’

  


“Hi.”

  


“What’re you up to?”

  


“‘M fishing. By the community house.” Dream answered, and George hummed, giving no indication that he was heading there. Instead,  _ GeorgeNotFound left the game.  _ appeared in chat.

  


The call felt weirdly silent.  _ Pull it together. George is your best friend, you’re supposed to be able to talk to him.  _

  


George took in a sharp intake of breath, “ _ Dream.”  _ he whined. 

  


Dream laughed awkwardly, “What?”

  


“ _ I’m bored.”  _

  


“Cope.”

  


George sighed heavily, “ _ Dream.” _

  


“ _ What?”  _

  


“‘M tired.” George said, and Dream could hear the sleepiness rising in his voice with every word he said. His accent gets thicker and his voice gets deeper. The sound filled his lungs with cotton, and Dream found it hard to breathe for a second. 

  


“Go to bed, then.” 

  


“Can’t. I told  _ Sapitus Napitus  _ I’d be here when he got back.”

  


“Well. That’s your fault.”

  


“You’re no help.”

  


“What do you want me to say, George?” Dream laughs, “Take a fifteen minute nap before he gets back.”

  


George responds with a groan, “You’re terrible at giving advice.’

  


For whatever reason, the teasing goes straight to Dream’s heart, and he feels his entire body shudder. George’s sleepy voice, along with the privacy of being alone in the call. It feels like all too much like that the night Dream realized that how he felt about George wasn’t typical. It was exactly the type of thing he was meant to be avoiding, but George’s presence was addicting. 

  


Dream must’ve been silent for too long, because George started to speak again.

  


“You know something funny, Dream? George said, his voice low, words slurring. He really was more tired than he let on. Dream wonders why he stuck around after the stream at all. 

  


“What?” Dream asked, and the moment before George replies feels so still and quiet. Dream can hear the rain outside, hitting his windows. He can hear the wind running through the leaves of the trees. He can hear George take a breath before he starts talking. Dream thinks it sounds like the calm before the storm. 

  


“When we first met,” George clears his throat, “I had  _ such a crush on you. _ ” he whispers the last words, as if he’s telling a school-yard secret. Dream’s heart stutters, he thinks it might beat right out of his chest. He can hear it beating blood into his ears. It feels so loud Dream’s afraid he’s going to miss what George says next. 

  


“Yeah?” Dream swallows hard. The moment feels too intimate for friends. He hopes that means that they aren’t just friends, he hopes George can feel it too. 

  


“Yeah. Even Sapnap knew, but. I got over it, so I never told you. ‘Til now, I guess.”

  


Dream’s stomach drops, and he has to clench his teeth.  _ It’s too late. You missed your shot.  _

  


A deep, stuttering breath in, “That’s...weird.” Dream says, cursing himself for not being able to think of something better to say. His mind’s a bit preoccupied, trying to think of ways he can possibly drop all 15 million subscribers and wipe himself off the face of the earth. 

  


George scoffs on the other end, “You know what’s weirder? I thought you liked me back for some time, too.”

  


It’s too much for Dream, the space behind his eyes hurts and his heart feels rotten inside and out. He closes his eyes and tries to breath. He can hear the rain on his windows. He can hear the wind howling. 

  


“Dream?” George’s voice is quiet, cautious. Guilty. Scared. 

  


“I think you’re tired, George.” Dream says, not sure how to keep the anxiety out of his voice. Maybe it’s good that it’s there, maybe it means George will get the hint. 

  


George is quiet for a moment, “I am tired.” It sounds like he wants to say something else, but silence fills the air again, and it’s clear it’s the end of the conversation. 

  


Dream hangs up before either of them can say anything else they don’t mean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!! this is my favorite chapter out of the 4 i think
> 
> please leave kudos and comment!! i love reading them and interacting with you :)
> 
> if you're bored - check out my other fics! they're all DNF centric :) love you guys!!!


	4. four

Dream wakes up in the morning to 6 missed texts and the worst headache he’s ever had in his life. All 6 texts are from Sapnap, which surprises Dream less than it should. The oldest went like the following:

_ sapnap: when i got back with my taco bell u guys were gone :( _

_ sapnap: you and george are bitches _

But, the more recent ones read:

_ sapnap: i just got off the phone with george _

_ sapnap: can you call?  _

_ sapnap: you and george suck at talking to each other _

_ sapnap: call me when you wake up _

Dream blinked away the sleep from his eyes, rereading the texts over and over again. The previous night’s events slowly returned to his memory, only worsening his headache. Dream sat up in bed, only briefly contemplated calling Sapnap, before standing up and heading towards his medicine cabinet. He grabbed a cold water and two Advil, downing both, when his phone began to vibrate. 

As if Sapnap was magically able to tell when Dream had woken up, he’d called him. Dream hesitated before pressing the green ‘answer’ button.

“You’re a bitch.” Sapnap answered.

“Good morning to you, too.” 

“ _ Not  _ a good morning, Dream. I had to listen to George whine that he ‘thinks he messed up’ and that you ‘don’t like him anymore’ for like, an hour this morning.”

Dream straightened his back, “He thinks I don’t like him? Why would he think that?”

Sapnap sighed, “He told you that he likes you, and you immediately hung up, Dream. It’s not rocket science.”

“Okay, one, that’s not what he said. And, two-”

Sapnap cut him off, “Dream, I don’t care. I’m not your guys’ middleman. You guys can talk to each other, I just wanted to call and tell you that whatever George said, he didn’t mean it like that. And that you need to tell him how you feel.”

“You weren’t there. He said that he  _ used _ to like me. He doesn’t anymore.”

Sapnap was silent on the other end for just a moment, “Just talk to him? Please?”

Dream wishes he could ‘ _ just talk’  _ to George again. He wishes that he and George could be that normal. 

“I can’t. We’re best friends, I don’t want to lose that with him because of a misunderstanding.” Dream stammered.

“Dream.  _ We’re  _ best friends. You and George, are.” Sapnap pauses, and the static from the call makes Dream feel a bit numb, “You guys are more.  _ Way  _ more.” 

“It’s just a crush. I can get over it.” Dream mumbles into his hands, ignoring what Sapnap said previously. He hears his friend sigh on the other end. 

“You need to stop hurting yourself. It’s just sad. George loves you, whether as a friend or, you know. He’s not going to be upset if you tell him you love him, regardless of how he feels back.” 

Dream’s head is going to explode at this point. He desperately wants to listen to Sapnap’s advice and rid himself of this overwhelming stress that’s been sitting on his shoulders for weeks now. But, at the same time, he can’t stand to lose George if something happens. 

“I can’t lose him, Sapnap. I can’t.” Dream mumbles, his eyes stinging.

“You aren’t going to. Please just do this? For me.” Sapnap sounds sincere. Dream finally gives into the weight that’s been pulling him down this entire time. 

_ Okay. _ Dream can barely manage to say it aloud, “I’ll do it.”

“Yeah?” Sapnap asks back, a tinge of hopefulness in his voice. “Alright, hop on Teamspeak. George needs to know that you aren’t pissed at him.”

“Wh- Sapnap, I didn’t mean  _ right now. _ ” 

“No, no. I’ll be there, too. But, George is going to get suspicious if you keep ignoring him and I am  _ not  _ sitting through another phone call of him complaining that you hate him, so just join the Teamspeak, become friends again, whatever. You don’t have to commit to any love confessions today.”

Dream thinks for a moment, before hesitantly responding, “Alright.”

Sapnap hangs up, saying he’s going to make George come online. Dream sits in silence for a little bit, watching his friends’ icons in Teamspeak. He watches as Sapnap comes online, followed by George, and takes a deep breath before joining their channel. 

It wasn’t often that joining Teamspeak was followed by silence. 

“Uh. Hi.” Dream said, into what felt like an empty room. 

“Hi, Dream.” Sapnap says, in a phony enthusiastic voice.

"Hi." is all George says in return, but Dream'll take it.

"Good. Everyone's said hi to each other." Sapnap sighs heavily, "

Dream’s phone buzzed, but when he looked down at it, his face twisted in confusion.

_ sapnap: really really sorry _

_ sapnap: you’ll thank me one day _

_ sapnap: love you _

Just as Dream finished reading the texts, Sapnap clapped his hands together, “Well, guys that was fantastic. Unfortunately, I think you guys have something to discuss  _ alone,  _ so I’mma head out.”

Before George or Dream could say anything at all, Sapnap was gone, leaving the two of them to sit in the awkward call by themselves. 

Finally, Dream spoke up, “We don’t have anything to discuss? Do we?” he added a small laugh to the end, trying to clear the air. 

George cleared his throat, but took a second to speak up, “Probably.”

Dream’s stomach sunk, “Like what?” 

It was cowardly, at this point. Dream was a grown man running from his feelings like a child. But, at the end of the day, it was George. And Dream would run in circles forever if it meant he didn’t say the wrong thing and lose him. 

He heard George sigh on the other end, “Yesterday.” A sharp intake of breath, “God, this is so dumb.” George mumbled into his hands. Dream’s skin felt like static, every hair on his body stood up with nerves, but George sounded like he felt the same way. He didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. 

It takes a long beat before George speaks again, but Dream is clinging to every word.

“When I said ‘used to,’ yesterday. I don’t think I meant it like that. I think I meant, like, current day. I like you. And I thought you liked me back.” George says, his voice small, but clear, as if he’d thought a lot about what he wanted to say. 

“You thought? Past-tense?” Dream says, letting the smile seep into his voice this time. He feels giddy. The static on his skin turns into a low heat that flushes his face and gets his heart racing. 

“What do you want me to say?” George says, exasperated, but Dream can hear the smile in his voice, too, “You have a massive, fat crush on me?” 

Dream hums, “You’re not wrong. For once.” 

“ _ Hey, _ ” George laughs, “Am I really not?”

“Of course not, idiot.” And Dream finally feels like he can say it aloud, “I like you, too.” 

Dream can hear the birds chirping through the window he is always forgetting to close and George giggles, and says something that Dream isn’t really hearing, and the sounds make Dream dizzy in the head. It feels like ecstasy. It feels like nostalgia, like this is a memory he’ll look back on when he’s an old man. 

Dream thinks about how deep in love he is, and for the first time it puts a smile on his face. ‘ _ This can be a pleasant thing,’  _ Dream thinks _. ‘Maybe it doesn’t have to be an angsty, painful experience like I thought.  _

_ I don’t want to remember nice days like that.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end!! thanks to everyone who read all the way through, i love you guys to the moon and back.
> 
> consider leaving kudos and commenting!! i love reading them and interacting with you guys
> 
> if you want something else to read - check out my other fics! they're all DNF centric :)


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